Springfield Armory XD-9 Pistol

Springfield Armory XD-9 Pistol

Open any gun magazine and you will invariably see multiple ads for one of Springfield Armory's XD pistols. The company obtained the rights to market the Croatian designed and produced guns in 2002 and quickly rechristened the guns to better appeal to the North American market. The XD-9 service pistol was the first to be offered and remains one of the most popular designs in the Springfield production lineup.

Initially, the XD was offered in a 4” barrel lending in both the 9mm and the .40 S&W cartridge sizes. Over time the pistol was offered in .357 SIG as well as the venerable .45 ACP. With multiple color combinations and barrel length which are now offered, there is most likely and XD for everyone.

The XD-9 service pistol is constructed from a forged steel barrel and slide matched to a polymer frame. This brings it into head-to-head confrontation with the Glock pistol lineup and is considered by many to be the strongest competitor in this strongly-contested market.

Springfield Armory markets the gun as superior to it's Glock competition because of a number of factors. The first is a better ergonomic design. The company has worked hard to demonstrate that the gun overall relation between the grip and the line of fire provides superior target acquisition as well enabling faster follow-up shots.

The Springfield Armory XD-9 service pistol also was introduced with a number of smaller enhancements, not found on other pistols in this vein, which shooters find extremely useful. The slide features a tip-up loaded chamber indicator which provides both a visual and physical confirmation that the gun is loaded. Another feature which works in similar fashion is the striker status indicator. When the gun's single-action internal striker trigger system is cocked, a small pin extends from the rear of the slide which allows a shooter to instantly know whether the gun is cocked or not. A final helpful element is the integrated rail system which is typically is found on all XD pistols.

Exceptional safety systems are essential for any gun to receive broad acceptance in the U.S. Market and the XD pistols shine in this area. The gun features similar safety system as are found on Glock pistols but also adds and additional element in the grip safety. Even if the trigger safety is disengaged and the trigger is pulled, the gun will not discharge if a firm grip is not present to disengage this additional safety system. While it may seem like overkill, there is evidence that XD pistols are involved in fewer negligent discharges than are known to happen with competitor's pistols.

Field stripping this pistol is rather easy. Simply remove the magazine, unload the pistol and lock the slide to the rear, manipulate the take-down lever upwards and release the slide so it returns to the standard position. From there, depress the trigger on the empty chamber and remove the slide by slipping it forward and off of the gun. From there the recoil spring assembly and the barrel can be removed from the inside of the slide and you are left with four main section of the pistol ready for cleaning.

Springfield Armory XD-9 Service Pistol

The service pistol variant the 9mm rendition of the XD typically comes from the factory with three 15 round magazines. Extended magazines are available as well. The gun features a true ambidextrous magazine release with a button located on either side of the gun. The XD-9 service pistol, however, cannot be considered “truly” ambidextrous as the slide release is not found on the right side of the pistol.

Springfield Armory makes these guns in a whole myriad of color combinations. The most common is a black finished slide and barrel matched to a black polymer frame, but a bi-tone stainless slide/black frame is available as well. The pistol is also offered in either an OD green or clay colored frame as well. Most XD-9 pistols come standard with 3-dot combat sights dovetailed into the slide but night sights are offered from the factory as well.

Reviews for the Springfield Armory XD-9 service pistol can be found below. Please write a review of your own if you can shed some insight on why this is or is not a good gun to own as many other shooters will be looking for info on this gun before buying one. Feel free to include all XD-9 variants here but leave the XD-40, XD-357 and the ported XD-9 V10 which all have their own review sets.

Good

[...] the Tactical XD-9 with the 5 barrel here (black or green frame are both fine) as the traditional XD-9 service pistol, and the Tactical XD-40, and Tactical XD-45, Tactical XD-357, and the Tactical XD-45LE with the .45 [...] Read More

Good

[...] a review of your own but please be sure to keep reviews limited to this particular pistol as the XD-9 and XD-40 pistols as well as the XD-357 Tactical have their own separate review [...] Read More

Great

[...] S&W version of the pistol can be included here. Separate review sets are made available for the XD-9 and XD-357 as well as the ported XD-40 V-10 version of the pistol so be sure to include your review [...] Read More